“Brother Blood”
July 15, 2009
It’s not commonly known, but once upon a time, while
> still in Medical School, I considered going into
> Psychiatry. I was in my clinical years at the time.
> Those are the last two years of the four years of
> education, leading to the MD degree, when the
> students begin to have patient contact.
>
> Now, it’s not uncommon to develop an affinity
> for each new disipline that you enter. Whether
> that attraction lasts with time and further exposure,
> is another matter entirely.
>
> When I rotated onto the Psychiatry ward, I came
> into contact wth real psychotics, for the first
> time. These were people completely divorced from
> reality, living in an entirely delusional state.
> Not wildly radical leftists, mind you, who are only
> figuratively crazy (and apparently now running wild,
> in control of our government), but truly sick people,
> many of whom were really dangerous (not that the
> latter aren’t, but they’re less likely to
> attack you, physically).
>
> Well, at the time, I was also continuing my
> training in Goju Karate. And my teachers on the
> Psych Ward were well aware of that. So, when there
> was a particularly dangerous, or potentially violent
> patient who needed to be interviewed, they tended
> to ask me, on the theory that I could, at least,
> defend myself.
>
> This was at Metropolitan Hospital in New York City,
> on the East River on the upper East Side, a major
> teaching affiliate of New York Medical College.
> As luck would have it, it was also the site used
> for the George C. Scott movie, “Hospital,” which
> was filming there at this time.
>
> No, I wasn’t in it. I was too junior a member of
> the health care team. But a few of my immediate
> teachers, the residents, were. In the scene where
> one of the doctors has a code (ie., a cardiac arrest
> where the health care team attempts to revive the
> victim), my residents were in the scene, actually
> doing the code. This lent the movie a great deal
> of authenticity. I only mention this in passing,
> because I remembered it, while thinking about
> Metropolitan, not that it has anything to do with
> this story.
>
> Anyway, one day they called me to do a clinical
> interview on this small, intense black guy, who was
> parading around in the locked white observation room,
> muttering, soto voce, to himself and doing what
> appeared to be rather sloppy kata movements,
> kicking and punching the air as he strode back and
> forth, across the bare tile floor.
>
> It was pretty clear that he had some familiarity
> with martial arts. Katas, or forms, are stylized
> sequences of movements and techniques (kicks,
> punches, blocks, etc.) that, taken together,
> comprise a specific fighting style. So, sloppy or
> not, the guy had been taught these movements at
> some point.
>
> We could observe him through a wire grated
> speakeasy window set in the heavy metal door.
> He was wearing a torn white athletic undershirt,
> with a necklace suspending a pendant that
> resembled a Native American medicine pouch, with
> a few small feathers on it. He was barefoot and
> wearing some nondescript sweat pants, as well.
>
> They gingerly opened the door and I went in, walked
> over to him slowly and introduced myself in what I
> hoped was a friendly, non-threatening way. We sat
> on the floor as I began asking him questions, to
> get some basic information the floor psychiatrists
> needed to develop a treatment plan for him, dutifully
> writing his answers down on a clipboard.
>
> Suddenly, out of nowhere, he launched a punch straight
> at my head. My head was down, writing, but I caught
> the movement with peripheral vision and reacted by
> reflex, with a sharp forearm block, that smashed
> his own forearm above my head. Very calmly, I said
> to him, “Please don’t do that. We’re both in the
> martial arts. I don’t want to hurt you, I just
> want to talk.”
>
> “Brother blood,” he muttered. “What?” I asked.
> “Y’ur Brother Blood,” he muttered again. And from
> that time on, he was cooperative and would speak
> only to me. And he never tried a sneak attack, again.
>
> I surmised that, on some level, I had reached him. His
> aggression was delected without a retaliation–I
> commanded his respect. We shared a common experience
> and appreciation of the eastern arts of combat–he
> felt a kind of bond with me. And when I accepted him
> as he was, and tried to help him, he believed he could
> trust me. So through this bond of common understanding,
> and shared experience, though seperated by the gulf
> of his severe cognitive disorder (turns out he was a
> paranoid schizophrenic, and very dangerous indeed),
> he eventually got the treatment he needed.
>
> Without my training (not to mention the reflexes of
> youth), though, he would’ve clocked me good…and who
> knows what else, and he would never have accepted me.
> Without that shared experience, I never could have
> formed a bond with him.
>
> So sympathy, or even empathy, with someone in pain is
> not enough. You need knowledge of what to do and you
> need training, to prepare for whatever opportunities
> come your way. And finally, your subject (or patient)
> must accept you and and your advice because he trusts
> you and believes in what you are doing.
>
> It’s the same thing with knee pain. If you’ve been
> reading me for any length of time, you know that I’m
> not only an orthopoaediuc surgeon, but I’m also a
> patient.
>
> I have chronic knee pains and I’ve had knee surgery.
> So I KNOW what you’re going through. But I also know
> what to do for you and how to fix it, with a proven
> track record of over a quarter century of helping
> folks, just like you. If you want to get rid of your
> knee pain, but do it without surgery, then try my
> newest healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY
>
> http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
>
> And, while you may need some real heavy duty medication,
> if you happen to be a paranoid schizophrenic, a number of
> studies in Europe and elsewhere have shown that omega-3
> fatty acids, like those in my ultra pure, pharmaceutical
> grade fish oil, DR. BILL’S POWERHOUSE OMEGA FORMULA
>
> http://drbillsclinic.com/favorite_formulas.html
>
> have significant beneficial effects on cognitive
> disorders, brain function and mood enhancement. And,
> that’s in addition to its proven heart healthy benefits,
> like reducing the rsk of heart attacks and strokes.
> Just like everything else I advise you to do, I use
> this formula myself, every day, twice a day. And you
> should, too…
>
> Til next time, my friend, be well.
>
> Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
>
> Dr. Bill
>
> P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
>
> P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
> http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
>
> P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
>
> P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
> http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
>
> FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
>
> Copyright, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
> All rights reserved
